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Benches warned after A-Rod plunking

Benches warned after A-Rod plunking

By Tim Britton
/
MLB.com |

PHILADELPHIA -- Umpires warned both benches in the first inning of Sunday's World Series Game 4 after Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch for the third time in two games.

With Johnny Damon on third base and one out, Phillies starter Joe Blanton drilled Rodriguez in the rib cage with a 90-mph sinker on the first pitch of the at-bat. Rodriguez stood in place at the plate for several moments and stared into his dugout before heading slowly down the first-base line.

At that point, the umpires gathered near the pitching mound before warning both benches.

"I don't necessarily think it's intentional, but Alex has been hit three times and [Mark Teixeira] has been hit twice, and we don't necessarily like that because we need those guys," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's pretty hard to hit people intentionally when there's runners in scoring position. But you can talk about if you're going to miss that you miss in, and we get concerned about that."

Rodriguez was hit twice in Saturday's Game 3, once to lead off an inning and once with two outs and a man on first -- also on the first pitch of the at-bat. After Game 4, Rodriguez insisted that the plunkings had not left more than a bruise.

Teixeira, meanwhile, was hit by Ryan Madson in the eighth inning of Game 2 and again in Sunday's ninth inning by Brad Lidge.

THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK

Alex Rodriguez tied the career record for World Series hit-by-pitches.

Player

Team(s)

Year(s)

HBPs

Alex Rodriguez

Yankees

2009

3

Derek Jeter

Yankees

'96,'01,'03

3

Reggie Jackson

Yankees

1977-78

3

B. Campaneris

A's

1973-74

3

Frank Robinson

Reds, O's

1961,'71

3

Elston Howard

Yankees

'60,'62,'64

3

Yogi Berra

Yankees

1953,'55

3

Max Carey

Pirates

1925

3

Fred Snodgrass

Giants

1911-12

3

Frank Chance

Cubs

1906-07

3

Honus Wagner

Pirates

1903,'09

3

After initially declining to comment on being hit, Rodriguez did permit himself one thought on the matter.

"I will say this: that the one time I got hit in yesterday's game, my first at-bat," Rodriguez said, "kind of woke me up a little bit and just reminded me, 'Hey, this is the World Series. Let's get it going a little bit.' So it worked out."

In the at-bat after being plunked by Cole Hamels in Game 3's first inning, Rodriguez exacted revenge with an opposite-field two-run homer to pull the Yankees within one. In Game 4, he came through with the go-ahead double with two outs in the ninth off Lidge to lift the Yankees to a 7-4 victory and a 3-1 series lead.

Yankees starter CC Sabathia said that the warning -- issued before he even took the mound -- did not affect his approach.

"It's tough that those guys got hit and they issued a warning," Sabathia said. "I thought it was a little premature. But it didn't affect me at all."

Tim Britton is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.